He Might As Well Be
by boasamishipper
Summary: "Yung's not Kai's dad, although he might as well be." / Parenthood doesn't come with a manual. Or, five times Yung learns what it's like to be a father, and one time Kai learns instead.


 **Summary** : "Yung's not Kai's dad, although he might as well be." / Parenthood doesn't come with a manual. Or, five times Yung learns what it's like to be a father, and one time Kai learns instead.

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own The Legend of Korra, nor do I own the Anchor 'verse—those belong to Bryke and words-with-dragons. I'm just playing, with love and respect to those who brought these characters to life.

* * *

1.

 _"Yung went through this crazy kid-proofing phase before everyone realized I knew how to take care of myself in a bad situation. Honestly, this ship's the safest place I've ever been."_

 _Compass, Chapter Eight: Brothers_

 _"Don't worry, Captain, I know exactly what I'm doing."_

Yung may have sounded firm and absolute when speaking to Zaheer three days earlier, after he'd brought Kai onto the _Waterbender_ , but the fact that he's raising a nine year old boy now is finally starting to sink in, as is the thought that he has absolutely no idea what he's doing. Growing up, he'd never had any siblings—cousins, yes, but they had all been around his age. Even as a teenager he'd never liked babies or children, they'd freaked him out. He had never thought he would be a dad or a guardian to anyone, and yet, here he is.

He'd expected the worst, but the rest of the crew has really taken Kai under their wing. Ever since returning the photo of Lefty's family, Kai hasn't stolen anything else, which Yung counts as progress. Kai's been eating three meals a day, Ryu's been showing him how to mop and Daw's showed him how to wash dishes. Yung's made sure that no one leaves Kai out of conversation, he answers the kid's questions to the best of his ability, and he tries to keep Kai out of Zaheer's sight, just in case the captain changes his mind and decides to get rid of Kai at the next port. Everything is going smoothly.

Everything, of course, until he decides to drop by a bookstore when they're docked in Tong Gong. Kai's with him, wide-eyed at all of the books on the shelves, and Otaku is perusing some new notebooks that are on sale. Then Yung notices a section of the store dedicated to new parents, and he leaves Kai with Otaku and heads over there. Paging through one book entitled _Home Safe Home_ , Yung is quickly alarmed by all of the mentions of safety hazards. He hadn't had any idea that crayons and window cords were so dangerous for toddlers—and Kai's not a toddler, he's nine, but still, the book sets the first mate on edge. It says that pills and toiletries should be locked away, the kitchen should be gated, the stove knobs should be removed, the oven should not be easy to open, cutlery should not be reachable, children should be kept away from sharp objects, candles and matches should be out of reach, photo frames should be up and away, etcetera. Nearly everything on the _Waterbender_ breaks these rules, not to mention that Kai could fall over the edge of the ship or choke on food or get a splinter from the wood or fall out of the crow's nest—

"Yung?" He looks down to see Kai standing next to him with a perturbed expression. "Otaku just left, are you ready to go?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, kiddo, I'm ready." Yung takes another look at the book in his hand and his mind is quickly made up. "Just lemme buy this book first."

He spends the rest of the day reading that book and he can't help but thank every Spirit ever for bringing it to his attention. He'd had no idea just how dangerous life can be for a small child, especially life on a pirate ship. Nearly everything Kai had come into contact with these last few days could have killed him, and what kind of guardian would Yung be if he didn't get rid of them? After dinner that evening, he corners Zaheer in the hallway leading up to the deck. "Captain," he says, "I've been thinking—"

"Dangerous pastime," Zaheer comments, but it's such a deadpan statement that Yung isn't sure whether he's joking or not. "Carry on, Yung. I don't have all night."

"Uh, right. So I bought this book in a bookstore when we were docked in Tong Gong today and, and I think it'll really be beneficial for all of us in terms of dealing with Kai."

"Dealing with Kai? Yung, you aren't going back on your word already, are you?"

Yung had realized how horrible the words had sounded when they'd left his mouth, so he quickly backtracks. "No, Captain, not at all! See, uh, Kai may be part of the crew now, but he's still just a kid and a ship is a dangerous place to raise a kid, as I'm sure you know, uh…sir."

Zaheer raises an eyebrow, looking unimpressed with Yung's rambles. "What's your point?"

"Iwantedyourpermissiontochildprooftheship." Before Zaheer can ask him to repeat himself, Yung speaks again, louder, slower and clearer this time. "I wanted your permission to childproof the ship a little, Captain. I think it's a bit too dangerous to be on for a little kid, so I propose a few, small ramifications—"

"Are you out of your damn mind?" Predictably Zaheer isn't particularly happy about this. Not that Yung can blame him. "This is a pirate ship, Yung, not a preschool, and I'll be damned if it turns into one on my watch. It isn't your job, nor your responsibility might I add, to talk about matters remodeling the ship."

Yung stands his ground. "This concerns Kai, and might _I_ add, he's my responsibility, which makes making him a safer place to live my job and my responsibility." He gulps, and belatedly adds on, "Sir."

Zaheer just stares at him impassively, a muscle in his jaw twitching. Right when Yung is beginning to visualize himself walking the plank and drowning in the ocean, the captain simply says, "Granted," and walks off. It takes Yung a few seconds to realize two things: one, that he'd just won a verbal battle with Zaheer, and two, he actually has permission to childproof the _Waterbender_.

Qilaq, Kuruk and Meishenme, help him.

He goes to Po and Nidhi first—after all, the carpenters will probably know what to do more than he will. Once he gets them to work creating new combination locks on the armory doors and kitchen cabinets (and after assuring them that yes, Zaheer had given him permission to do so), he grabs his book from his cabin for more inspiration. He also enlists Appa and Imaru any heavy lifting that Po and Nidhi will need help with, and gets Ryu and Daw to keep Kai busy. He doesn't want the kid to be anywhere near things that could potentially hurt him, and according to the book he could fall into the ocean if someone were to just bump into him.

Six hours later, they're just about complete, and Yung's decided to go and get Zaheer to see what he thinks when suddenly he hears someone laughing behind him. The first mate nearly has a heart attack when he sees Lefty doubled over, guffawing on the deck. Everyone stops what they're doing to watch, and once Lefty finally gets a grip, Yung asks him what the matter is.

"What's the matter? I heard banging and decided to see if we were being attacked, and I came up here to see you telling Po that the mast needs to be wrapped in carpets so Kai won't get a splinter." Lefty wipes his eyes, tears of mirth streaming out of them. "Yung, what the hell are you even doing?"

Yung can't help but feel embarrassed, explaining himself to Lefty. "Uh, well, I read this book and decided that if Kai's going to be staying with us then we need to childproof the ship. So, uh…" He gestures aimlessly at the deck, where they've put new combination locks on the doors and Po is nailing carpet to the mast and Appa is examining the deck for any broken wood or loose nails. Nidhi's arguing with Imaru about the importance of making a new railing just for Kai so he won't fall overboard. "Yeah."

"Right." Lefty looks like he's about to dissolve into giggles again. "Well, I see that you've got things handled up here. I think I'm going to go back to bed. And Yung?"

Yung's almost afraid to ask. "What?"

"In case you're wondering about the boy that you're childproofing the ship for, Daw and Ryu just put him to bed." Yung feels slightly guilty for not paying the kid much attention today, but surely Kai will forgive him upon seeing the safe environment he's created for him. "Want me to tell him good night from you?"

"Yeah," Yung says, his voice hoarse. "Thanks, Akash."

Lefty gives him a playful salute, still laughing to himself as he ambles away down below the deck. Yung turns back to the others, realizing that they've forgotten some key things that the book has mentioned. "Just a little longer, guys," he says, his tone apologetic. "Then we can go to bed."

A little longer turns into hours, and they're all finally finished by three o'clock in the morning. Yung thinks that the deck is so safe that even Governor Gyatso would approve of it—he'd just passed several safety laws, according to the latest issue of the Republic City _Chronicle._ He stumbles back to his bunk, eager for a few hours of sleep before they have to get up for their morning chores.

Yung is awoken what feels like fifteen minutes later by Imaru of all people, and before he can even ask why, Imaru says, "Zaheer's looking for you." Yung barely has time to zip up his pants and pull on a clean shirt before he's dragged up to the deck and _oh_ , this is because of the childproofing that he and the others had done…four hours ago.

Zaheer looks ready to spit fire when they lay eyes on each other. "Yung, when I said that you could childproof the ship, I didn't mean like this!" The captain gestures around the deck angrily and Yung sees exactly why. They had nailed down carpet and bubble wrap all over the mast and the steering wheel, Nidhi had made a new railing for the deck, Appa is currently struggling with the new combination locks that Po had made for the armory door, and oh shit, Yung is going to be in such big trouble. Perhaps his nightmare of walking the plank will come true after all. "This ship is going to be the laughingstock of Paradise! Why don't you just put up a sign that say we're part ship, part preschool?"

"Captain, please, you said that I could—"

"Yung?" Both of them turn around quickly to see Kai staring shyly up at them from behind Lefty and Imaru. He's wearing a nightshirt that doesn't even fit him, and his mouth forms a small circle as he looks around the newly renovated deck. "What's—uh, what's this?"

"Hey, kiddo," Yung greets, embarrassed all over again. "Uh. I—we childproofed the ship last night."

Kai's brows furrow. "Why?"

He doesn't expect that question. "Er…because I thought that…I thought that the ship was dangerous for a little kid and uh—well, I wanted to make it a little more safe for you."

Kai blushes. "Um. Yung. Not that I don't like what you did—I think the ship looks very…safe…now—but uh, I lived on the streets for a long time." That doesn't make Yung feel any better. "I just—I know you want to make things less dangerous, but I know danger. I had to take care of myself for a while. This ship is the safest place I've been in since I was really little. I don't think it needs to be changed."

Oh. _Oh._ Oh Spirits, everything makes sense now. He hadn't even considered that in his split second decision to completely renovate the ship. Of course Kai knows how to take care of himself. He'd lived on the streets for a long time. Hell, when they'd met Kai had attacked him with a knife. Yung feels stupid all over again. "You're right, Kai," he says. "I mean, I still think it needs to be changed a little, but…"

"The carpet on the mast doesn't look good," Kai admits.

"Nah," Yung concedes, "it really doesn't."

They decide to take away at least half of the renovations that Yung, Po, Nidhi, Appa and Imaru had created. Thankfully, the carpet and bubble wrap is removed from the mast and the steering wheel, the combination locks on the kitchen cabinets are replaced with keys and keyholes, and Nidhi decides to keep the railing he'd made. "Much safer," he says with a wink toward Yung.

And once they're all finished, even Zaheer admits that the _Waterbender_ is the safest it has ever been.

* * *

2.

 _Kai had nearly drowned once, tipped over the railing of the Waterbender and into the sea after only a few months of being on the ship, the result being Yung had drilled him through swimming lessons until he could tread water in his sleep. He could remember the water though, spilling over into his mouth, filling his throat, choking and gasping and struggling to stay afloat…_

 _Compass, Chapter Six: The Quil Massacre_

During Kai's fourth month on the Waterbender, he gives Yung his first premature heart attack.

They're sailing to Omashu again for more trading when suddenly Imaru points to the sky, surprised to see an albatross following them. Yung's only seen a few of them in his lifetime, but Kai's probably never seen one before. With a smile, he watches Kai roam off towards the bird, an enchanted look on his face as he gets a good look at it. It's definitely impressive: huge, with at least a fourteen foot wing-span, and flying very close to the ship, drifting and soaring on the gusting wind, appearing and disappearing between the sails.

Kai's absolutely enchanted by it. He lets go of the railing, leaning forward to get a better view of it as it soars off into the sky again. Yung's heart rate immediately skyrockets and he snaps, "Kai, be careful!" There's no way in hell he's going to let the kid hurt himself trying to catch a glimpse of a bird. "Get down from there!"

Kai pushes himself up on the railing and opens his mouth to reply, but somehow the momentum of pushing himself up sends him forward, and with a scream he topples over the railing and falls overboard into the ocean with a loud splash that seems to echo in the silence of the ship. Even Zaheer is quiet. Lefty's mouth hangs open.

Yung just stands there, his mind frozen, along with his heart. He wants to rub his eyes and look again, sure that if he does, Kai will still be standing there grinning and watching the albatross. He blinks once, twice, three times, but nothing changes. Kai is gone. He's overboard. He's in the water.

Can Kai even swim?

Everything is numb. Nothing can compute, nothing makes sense. If someone had said that two and two made twenty-seven to him just then, he would've taken their word for it.

No. Kai can't swim. Kai's—oh Spirits. Suddenly, a rush of heat washes over him and his heart rate speeds up again. He had just seen the boy he's responsible for fall into the ocean. He doesn't know if Kai's alive, dead, drowning or swimming, but there is absolutely no time to think about the what ifs of the situation. Not when the situation is so precarious. Not when Kai's life is hanging in the balance.

The sound of Kai's terrified scream as he'd fallen overboard replays in Yung's mind with vivid clarity, giving him an adrenaline-fueled strength unlike any he'd experienced before. He breaks into a run, pausing only to kick off his shoes before he dives right off the ship to the cries of everyone.

He doesn't even care that his clothes are getting ruined. As far as he's concerned, his clothes are replaceable.

Kai, on the other hand, isn't.

The coldness of the ocean nearly shocks the first mate out of his wits, but he manages to right himself and pops his head above the water, taking a long, deep breath. Treading water to keep himself afloat, Yung notices the choppiness of the waves and the scared faces of every man aboard the ship, watching him look for Kai. Pausing for only a moment, he dives back under.

It takes his eyes less than five seconds to adjust to the salty water. Yung knows that since he's close to the surface he can see quite easily, but the farther down he goes his visibility will slowly reach zero. He also knows from listening to Sei instruct Lefty that a body sinks slowly with oxygen in its lungs. It isn't likely that Kai could sink so far so fast.

Kicking back to the surface again, Yung sucks in a long breath and curses loudly because _damn it_ , where is he? He's running out of time. Forget him, _Kai_ is running out of time. But for the life of him, he can't spot head nor tail of the boy at all. "Fuck!"

Just as he goes back under, he sees Kai and he relaxes almost immediately because thank Qilaq and Kuruk and Meishenme he's alive, but he's struggling hard, half beneath the waves and half above them and damn him, how had he not seen him earlier? He'd been right there, damn it!

 _Why am I arguing with myself? Grab him!_

Obeying himself, Yung swims faster than he'd thought possible and grabs Kai, who relaxes instantly now that someone else is holding him and he doesn't have to swim for himself. Then, lungs aching and almost screaming for air, he kicks his way to the surface with Kai in his arms and gasps, taking in the deepest breath he possibly can. His ears are ringing with the sound of his crew cheering, but he doesn't dare join in. Kai clings to him like he's an anchor holding him down to earth, and Yung quickly looks him over as best as he can while still treading water. "Are you okay are you alright do you hurt anywhere did you hurt yourself Spirits Kai please talk to me—"

"M'fine," Kai whispers, his voice hoarse. His arms are shaking, his whole body is shaking. Or maybe Yung is shaking too; his sudden rush of adrenaline is catching up to him. "M'fine Yung."

"Oh thank Raava." Yung feels faint as Lefty and Imaru and Ryu rescue them from the water. He doesn't let go of Kai, not even when they're safe on the deck again and both of them are wrapped in blankets. Both of them are shaking, and Yung can't tell whether the water on Kai's cheeks is salt water or tears. Dear Raava. He'd nearly lost Kai. How is it possible that he's grown so fond of the kid after four short months?

"Yung?" His attention immediately returns to the boy in his arms, who looks like a cowering puppy. "I'm sorry I didn't listen."

"W-what? What're you talking about?"

"Shouldn't have leaned over," Kai mumbles. "M'sorry."

Spirits. Yung will never be cease to be surprised about the kid's priorities. "It's okay, kiddo," he says, bringing Kai closer to him in a hug. He rests his chin on Kai's forehead, and Kai doesn't pull away or move, even when Lefty and the others approach them with some medicine. They really need to find a medic, the first mate thinks. "I promise it's okay. You don't have to apologize."

Lefty's kneeling in front of Kai now, a concerned look on his face. "Mind lifting up your shirt for a second for me, kid?" When Kai does, Lefty whistles at the red splotches all over Kai's stomach. "You're going to have some wicked bruises for the next few days from that belly flop of yours into the ocean."

"I've had worse," Kai says, and the sheer simplicity of his words nearly bring Yung to tears all over again.

"Well, Kai," Yung finally says once the moment has passed, "I know I can't keep you away from the railing forever and I'm not going to try, but when we get to more shallow waters, I'm going to teach you how to swim."

Kai flashes him a hesitant, crooked smile. "Alright," he agrees.

Their swimming lessons begin three weeks later when they dock in Bǎoshí Harbor, near the end of the Gold Coast. The weather is beautiful and the water is warm, so once they dock and some of the crew members go to trade or buy gifts for their families, Yung changes into a pair of swim trunks that he hasn't used in ages and goes down to the pier. He decides that if Kai's going to be swimming, then he can't learn in the ocean right off the bat—he'll have to go to a community pool, which is where they head as soon as both of them are ready.

Once they get there, Yung jumps in the water immediately, wading toward the shallow end and encouraging Kai to follow him in. "C'mon Kai!"

Kai's standing at the side of the pool; shifting from one small foot to the other – from both apprehension and the heat of the cracked concrete – and stares at the pale blue water in the pool like he's afraid it'll bite him. He swallows; anxiously twisting the bright orange water wings around his thin arms that Yung had bought him in the gift shop. Fourteen yuans—Yung just hopes that they're worth it. "I dunno, Yung…"

"I'll catch you," Yung promises. "It'll be okay."

Kai takes a deep breath, looking back and forth between Yung and the water. Eventually something gets the best of him and he jumps right in, creating a huge splash. Luckily the pool isn't too crowded right now—it's the middle of the week and most kids are in school—so he doesn't splash anyone but Yung. "Alright, kid. Now the first thing I want you to do is to tread water. You've gotta learn how to do that before we even think about teaching you how to swim. Now, I want you to just stay the way you are in the water and kick your legs back and forth underwater—don't do it so hard, okay, good!" This is going better than he'd thought. "Now, while you're kicking, I want you to move your arms horizontally—forward and back with your hands closed facing the way that they're moving. Makes sense?"

"I think so," Kai muses, trying it out. It doesn't look very refined, but for the kid's first time it's not bad at all. "Like this?"

"Yeah, that's great, but don't forget about your legs, okay?" Yung thinks that maybe the water wings weren't so much of a waste after all. "Okay, ah…just keep doing it. I want you to try without me holding you now, okay?"

Kai bites his lip. "Uh…alright." Yung lets go of Kai's body, making sure to remain close in case the kid starts to panic, but much to his surprise Kai is handling the water just fine. "This isn't so bad."

"Just wait until we take off the water wings, kiddo," Yung says with a chuckle. "You didn't see me swim with them on, did you?" Kai shakes his head. "Right. But we've still got a long way to go before you can tread water or even swim without them. I think you and your water wings are going to be very attached to each other soon."

Turns out, Yung is right. For the next two months, in every available port that they stop at Yung continues to teach Kai how to swim until he's pretty sure that the kid can tread water in his sleep. Slowly but surely he starts to wean the kid off his water wings, teaches him how to swim freestyle and breast stroke, the more common style, even taking him underwater. They return to the same pool that they'd started at exactly two months and two days after his first swimming lesson, just to see how far Kai has come so far. The kid who'd been too afraid to swim at all is nowhere to be found—instead Kai jumps into the water immediately, and Yung watches proudly as he swims around like he's part fish in the community pool.

"Excuse me, sir?" Yung turns to see an older lady beaming down at him, and he nods politely at her. "You've probably never seen me before, but I just wanted to tell you that I saw you a little while ago teaching your son how to swim and may I just say, you're a very good teacher. Why, my father never taught me how to swim until I was fifteen."

Yung had tuned out immediately after she'd called Kai his son. His jaw works furiously for a moment as he tries to think of what to say, finally settling on, "Thank you, ma'am."

Kai may not be his son, but that doesn't mean he still can't be proud of the boy's achievements.

* * *

3.

 _"2 am—if I'm ever up that early, it's because I'm up that late."  
― Jarod Kintz, This Book Has No Title_

Two o'clock in the morning, and Kai still isn't back from his first date. Yung doesn't know whether he should be worried or not, but at the moment he's leaning toward the latter. He knows the girl that Kai's going out with—Meilin's sweet, and Daw's friends with her mother—but the fact of the matter is that the city where they're currently docked is dangerous. Zaheer had told him to stop worrying so much ("For Raava's sake it's only dinner and a bonfire, stop worrying so much.") but Yung just can't stop freaking out. Lefty had decided to stay up with him until Kai came back, but the older man is currently dozing off with his head resting against the mast. Yung wishes he could be that carefree. Spirits, Kai's only thirteen years old, what if something bad happens? What if he loses him like had in Paradise all those years ago?

Before Yung can go and raise alarms and form a search party, Kai comes up the gangplank and all thoughts of worry instantly vanish from Yung's mind, although new thoughts quickly replace them. "Akash," he hisses, nudging the man in the side. Lefty stirs awake with a loud snort that sounds like a car backfiring. "He's back." To Kai, in a louder voice, he says loudly, "And where have you been?"

Kai jumps, obviously startled from the way his hand automatically goes to the sword holstered near his hip. His kid probably hadn't even seen them there. "Oh, hey Yung."

"Don't you 'hey Yung' me, you were supposed to be back on the ship two hours ago," Yung snaps. "Where were you? We've been worried sick!"

"I took Meilin out for dinner, and then the bonfire went longer than usual."

Four years they've known each other and he can still tell when Kai is lying. _You'd think he'd have gotten a new technique or something_. "Oh really? Two full hours longer? What was going on there?"

"No, not that much longer! Just—we ended up going into town for coffee and talked for a while with some of her friends. Then I took Meilin home. It was fun, I had a good time."

"And I'm glad you did," Yung says, grabbing Kai's arm and stopping his kid before he can go anywhere, "but next time you go out on a date I expect you to actually stick to the curfew that we set up, alright?"

Kai curses, and Yung is about to berate him for his language when Lefty speaks. "So, kid, tell me," he says with a furtive wink, "was Meilin pretty tonight?"

Yung's just about fed up with both of them. Between Kai being late and Lefty deliberating steering the conversation elsewhere, he's about five seconds away from pulling out his hair. Honestly, both of them are going to give him gray hair before he's forty. "Lefty, we are supposed to be punishing him! He's late, he broke his curfew! He could've gotten lost or hurt or—"

"Aw, c'mon Yung, all I'm asking is if the girl was pretty. No harm in that." Lefty leans forward, arms encircling his knees. "So, kid, tell me. What was she wearing?"

Yung facepalms. "I'm going to go and make tea," he says, crossing his arms across his chest like he's a petulant toddler. "You two are welcome to join me when you're ready."

They do, in fact, join him just as the tea kettle starts whistling. They're sitting at a table talking all about Kai's night—and while Yung smiles at just how happy Kai looks, talking all about dinner and the bonfire and his date with Meilin, Yung still can't shake the worried feeling that had enveloped him like a blanket when he'd seen the clock strike midnight and Kai wasn't back yet. He brings three steaming cups to the table, Kai taking one eagerly. "Thanks, Yung," he says with a grin in the first mate's direction. Then something like apprehension clouds his features. "I'm, uh…sorry for worrying you. Both of you."

"It's alright," Yung assures him. He means it too: he's not even mad anymore. He's just glad that Kai had had a good time and isn't lying in a ditch with his legs broken. "I'm just glad that you had a good time. What'd you guys talk about?"

"Meh. The usual. Life at sea, if I've ever been to Paradise, have I ever seen any sirens, all that," Kai answers rather nonchalantly. "She talked politics a little with me—apparently Governor Gyatso's running for reelection next year. She read it in the papers this morning."

Appa had read that in the papers this morning too—it was going to be Governor Gyatso versus a newcomer whose name Yung couldn't recall. The first mate likes the governor well enough: he takes care of his people and manages their money well. Of course, he considers the pirate populace a plague to society, but what governing ruler doesn't think that these days? Either or, the Gyatso family has been ruling Republic City for as far back as Yung can remember—the governor will probably get reelected. "Yeah, I heard that too."

Lefty grins. "Say, Kai, did you happen to talk about the governor's kids? The daughter's around your age now, isn't she?"

Now Kai looks confused. "No, we didn't talk about the governor's kids. Why would we anyway?"

"Just a simple question," Lefty says, nudging Yung in the side. "Wanted to see how interested in politics you are."

The tips of Kai's ears flush. He obviously understands Lefty's double entendre, and Yung can't help but laughed at how affronted he looks. "I'm—I'm not interested in anything like that—c'mon Lefty…"

"Don't tease him, Akash," Yung says, hands wrapped around his mug of tea. He takes a sip, relishing in the flavor. Soon. Soon he'll be able to go to bed. He's functioned on less sleep than this—when Kai had been little and had had constant recurring nightmares, no one but Zaheer slept a wink for weeks. Besides, what better reason is there to stay up relaxing than with Lefty and Kai? "Gentlemen, as lovely as this has been, I think we should be going to bed soon."

Kai pantomimes a yawn, probably grateful for the way out. "Good idea. Thanks for the tea, Yung. I'm going to bed. G'night." And with that, the kid scurries off to bed, leaving Yung and Lefty alone at the kitchen table with half-full teacups that Yung reluctantly pours down the sink. A waste of good tea, he thinks.

Lefty speaks first. "It's nice to see him act like a normal kid for once, y'know."

"I'm glad he had a good time too, Lefty, but we need to set a precedent," Yung says, turning around. He knows exactly where the man is going. "He said he'd be home by midnight. He was two hours late."

"C'mon, Yung. When do you think the next time Kai will go on a date will be? Zaheer's insisting that we sail through the Wujin Sea—he had a messenger hawk from someone that told him the Dai Li are out there. This date will probably be the first one of many for Kai, yeah, but the next one won't be for a while."

Yung sighs. "You think I'm wrong for telling him off, don't you."

"I'm just saying you should give the kid a sense of normality."

"If he wants a sense of normality then listening to his father telling him off for not adhering to his curfew is pretty normal too, Lefty," Yung counters before realizing just what he's said and he wants to facepalm again for his slip. He thinks of himself as Kai's father now? When had this happened?

Lefty's grinning down at him now. "Aha." Yung blushes. "I seem to recall a young man of twenty-seven who told me in confidence after saving Kai the first time that he had no idea what he was doing. And now you comfortably call yourself the kid's dad. Not bad. Only took four years."

Yung wants to say it isn't like that, but the words stick in his throat because it _is_ like that. He does think of himself as Kai's father, guardian—at the very least like an older brother. But in the end it isn't his decision. It's Kai's.

Kai's a good kid, he thinks. And if Kai wants to call him a father, then a father is what he'll be.

* * *

4.

 _"I still remember that time he was like 13 and got drunk for the first time, god it was awful. Yung made him wait it out the good ol' fashioned way, vomiting and all. But_ I _was the one who had to clean it up when he barfed all over the deck."_

 _Anchor, Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Awakening_

They're in a bar (an offshore bar, an irony unlike any other) when it happens.

Yung's drinking off in a corner with Lefty and Imaru and Appa, discussing their next trade routes, when they'll have a chance to visit their families, etcetera. Appa's going off about his sister Menli and his nephew Momo, who he'll be visiting soon. Yung's heard so many stories about Momo, he thinks it'll be a wonder if Appa escapes this visit without a broken leg. Just as Imaru's about to go and get them more beer, Kai comes stumbling over, and that immediately sets Yung on high alert because Kai never stumbles, not even when he's injured. He always walks with his head up high, so something must be wrong here. Something must be impairing him for him to walk in such a way—

And then Yung understands, and with his understanding comes anger, and once his anger passes comes the urge to laugh uncontrollably as Kai plops down in Imaru's empty seat. "H-hey," he says, his voice slurred. "How's everyone here?"

Appa grins. "Fine, kid, and how are you?"

"Fine. Hey, hey Yung." Kai pokes Yung on the shoulder. "Did you know—uh, did you know that—that the beer here tastes really good? I've had like eleven and they're great. Yung, uh, you should—uh, you should go get one."

"I've already had some, Kai, but thanks." Yung pauses, noting Kai's sluggish behavior and decides that yes, the thirteen year old boy is most definitely drunk. Not that that's uncommon—the drinking age may be twenty-one in all Four Nations but it doesn't impede anyone from buying a pint. Yung's pretty sure that Appa and Imaru and Lefty all started drinking when they hit puberty—the first mate's guilty of also indulging in a few pints of beer when he'd been around Kai's age, maybe a few years older. "I think we should go back to the ship now."

Imaru tilts his head, silently asking if Yung needs help carrying him down the street and back to the ship. Yung nods, and both Imaru and Lefty rise at the same time, all three of them helping Kai amble drunkenly down the street. "Yung, Yung, why is the street spinning? We've been here before and it never spins."

"That's what happens when you drink eleven beers, kiddo." Eleven beers. Qilaq, Kuruk and Meishenme. _Eleven beers and he's standing upright; two beers and I'm doing karaoke._ "You're going to have one hell of a hangover come morning."

"I'm—hic!—I'm prepared for…for that."

Yung tries to hide his amusement and fails, judging by Imaru and Lefty's twin grins. "Oh, are you now."

"Yup. I know...I saw that D-Daw keeps hangover cures in the kitchen cabinet."

"Oh, no no no," Yung clucks his tongue as they approach the pier. Thankfully Zaheer had chosen a bar close to the pier to go to tonight. "Hangover cures are for experienced drinkers like me and Lefty and Appa and Ryu and Imaru and everyone else. You, my friend, are underage. You'll have to experience your hangovers just like we did."

"With headaches and fuzzy tongues," Imaru adds as they board the ship. Daw and Otaku are waiting up for them, the latter person's eyes widening underneath his glasses as he hastily moves out of their way.

Kai trips over where the gangplank meets the ship and Yung barely manages to catch him in time. He bats away Yung's arms, pushing himself back up on wobbly knees. Yung helps him back up anyway, not expecting Kai to collapse again, his face all scrunched up in obvious pain.

 _Oh, dear Raava, tell me he isn't going to—_

In a sudden, violent heave, Kai vomits all over the deck.

 _Of_ fucking _course._

It takes every bit of Yung's willpower to not drop Kai on the deck and yelp in disgust as some of the vomit gets on his shirt and shoes, most of it ending up on the floor. Thick saliva, slimy and discolored from bile, hangs in syrupy strands from Kai's mouth. Swallowing his own disgust, Yung wipes his wrist across Kai's mouth and rubs the nauseating mess on his own pants. He can always buy new ones anyway.

"Ugh, Yung," Kai slurs, now sounding like he's in pain. "S'ry."

"It's okay, it's alright," Yung says, soothingly rubbing Kai's back. "I'm taking you to your room—Lefty, you clean up the deck."

"C'mon, Yung, why do _I_ —" Yung glares at him and Lefty immediately changes his tune. "Sure, cleaning Kai's puke off the deck sounds like a real fun time! Who's with me? No one! Great!" Under his breath, he whispers, "You bastards." Louder, he says, "Wonderful! Where's the bleach?"

While Lefty searches for the bleach, Yung escorts Kai to his room, making him strip off his vomit-stained clothes and lie down. As Kai's doing this (with an expression on his face that makes him look like he's being tortured), Yung goes to the kitchen and gets his kid a glass of water. By the time he returns to the boy's bedroom, Kai's already half-asleep. "C'mon, Kai, wake up. Drink a little bit of this."

Kai takes the proffered glass and drinks it with his eyes closed, his brow furrowed. "Is it medicine?"

"No, it's water. You're supposed to drink water when you drink alcohol—it limits your chances of getting as drunk as you just did, plus it eases the hangover headache. You're going to hate yourself tomorrow morning, kiddo." Yung should know—he speaks from experience. "Good." He takes the glass back and sets it on Kai's nightstand. "Go to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

He had decided to let Kai sleep in—after all, he's probably dealing with an earth-shattering headache—but when breakfast is nearly over he goes to wake him up. Kai's wrapped in blankets and is sleeping like he's dead to the world, but when Yung opens up the door all the way, casting light into the room, Kai hisses like Whiskers does whenever someone accidentally steps on the cat's tail. "Morning, sleeping beauty."

"Ugh." Kai curls up into a ball. "Why are there sledgehammers banging inside my head?"

"Because you decided to drink eleven beers last night," Yung explains patiently. "I would suggest you take two pills and drink lots of water. Also, you should get up soon. Breakfast is nearly over."

"Don't even mention food to me now," Kai moans. "Ugh. I'm not getting out of bed unless someone's dying."

Later, Kai does end up getting out of bed, and he looks so miserable all day that Lefty's tempted to take a picture of him with the old Polaroid camera that's in storage somewhere. "We can call it 'Baby's first hangover,'" he says jokingly.

Needless to say, Kai will never drink eleven beers consecutively again.

* * *

5.

 _"What about Gyatso?"_

 _Kai shot him a surprised look. "What about her?"_

 _Yung rolled his eyes. "She's a girl. That you're head over heels for."_

 _Anchor, Chapter Twelve: Kida_

Yung will be the first to admit that he doesn't enjoy playing matchmaker—Lefty's the one who usually handles romantic affairs—because he believes that people should find love without the aid of others. If it's meant to be, then it'll happen on its own. He holds this belief for many years, and it lasts while Otaku dates Jaya and while Momo and Pabu dance around each other. He feels confident in his beliefs after many years of having them.

When Lady Jinora Gyatso, eldest daughter of the Governor of Port Bosco, sets foot on the _Waterbender_ with her head held high and immediately engages Kai in an argument, Yung's beliefs are turned completely around. He doesn't believe for a split second that Jinora and Kai hate each other (even if they do argue for hours at a time every single day over the smallest trivialities), and after two weeks pass the two young adults even seem to become friends. Kai teaches her sword fighting, and she tries her best to bring down his barriers.

Yung isn't blind. He can see the way that they look at each other: how Jinora sometimes watches Kai when he's teaching Momo how to fight with a sword or smoking with Skoochy, or how Kai's gaze will sometimes gravitate to Jinora when she's reading one of Otaku's books or when she's eating dinner. He mocks her and calls her Gyatso, she jokes right back and calls his Captain. At first both nicknames are derogatory, but as time passes the nicknames begin to be infused with respect. It stops being a hostage situation much quicker than any of them had thought.

When Jinora takes a knife for Kai, he realizes she's in love with Kai.

When Kai nearly kills Long Feng for it, he realizes he's in love with Jinora.

Yung debates for a long time about what to do. If Jinora's anything like Kai is—and from the way it looks the two of them are pretty damn similar when it comes to withholding things—then neither of them will ever admit their feelings to each other. It's so obvious that they like each other that Lefty has organized a betting pool revolving around when Kai and Jinora would get together. (Yung had bet Momo fifty yuans that Kai would kiss her first, and sure, betting against Momo's not far, but he's been strapped for cash lately and deserves to win a bet concerning the happiness of his kid.) But anyways, Yung can see that nothing's going to happen between them unless one of them intervenes, and he decides that that person is going to be him. So he instigates a music night where Kai and Jinora dance with each other for the first time, he makes everyone leave the ship for a night in the hopes that the two of them would admit their feelings with no one on board, he makes Kai and Jinora look for the stowaway together, hell, he even gets them into bed together after Imaru volunteers to fake sick. It's all going well, and Yung thinks that if everything keeps working well, the two of them will kiss before Jinora's time on the ship is up.

Of course, none of them could have ever seen Rizza coming.

Rizza. Yung hates her the most out of all of Kai's one night stands. Cocky, pretentious and sometimes an outright bitch, Rizza doesn't deserve Kai and for the record Yung has no idea what he sees in her. But Jinora's absolutely heartbroken by the girl's arrival—Yung's grown to care for her over these months and seeing her upset makes him want to throw Rizza overboard and give Kai a good smack upside the head. Honestly, how can his kid be so clueless?

Evidently not as clueless as him, because Yung walks in on Jinora and Kai about to kiss a short while after Rizza leaves the ship. He's such an idiot, honestly, and he gets hell for it below decks from Imaru, Appa, Pabu, Momo and Lefty, who have invested practically all of their time and money into Kai's romantic life. Then during their raid of Koh's ship, Yung nearly has a heart attack when Skoochy and Appa come out from below decks carrying Jinora and Kai in their arms because damn it, Kai and Jinora had nearly died from smoke inhalation down there and if Koh weren't dead then he would kill the man himself. Of course, they're both fine, and best of all, they've come to terms with their feelings for each other and kiss in the middle of the infirmary with Longshot, Rizza, and Yung watching—it's one of the happiest days of Yung's life, even if he only wins twenty-five yuans from Momo instead of fifty.

But then, just as things start going well again, everything goes to hell in a handbasket. Kai breaks Jinora's heart to save her, Zaheer returns with both Jinora and Governor Gyatso as his hostages, and Kai nearly dies defending the crew and Jinora and Yung can't do a damn thing about it because his stupid brave kid had insisted that this lay between him and Zaheer. But when Kai's lying on the deck in a puddle of his own blood, barely breathing with Zaheer's decapitated head lying at P'Li's feet, Yung has to take charge even if he wants nothing more than to curl up into a corner and cry. So take charge he does—he keeps the men from killing each other (more or less) and explains to Jinora's parents what had happened between their daughter and his son and orders Longshot to find any way possible to save Kai.

And during the day and a half of absolute hell on earth, he learns just how much Jinora cares for his kid. Not that he'd had any doubt, but when she admits to him that she can't sleep alone and when she nearly faints upon hearing Longshot's diagnosis, his heart breaks all over again.

But then Momo is brilliant, he's so brilliant honestly why isn't this kid given more credit, and Kai is saved. Yung's not ashamed to be crying so much, especially in front of the men and Jinora, but he's just so happy that his kid is alright. Fourteen years they've known each other. Fourteen years Yung has cared for Kai, through thick and thin, through blood and grit.

And when Jinora and Kai cement their relationship, Yung thinks that he can handle caring for one more kid too.

That's what being a parent is all about, isn't it?

* * *

+1.

 _Kai fought to close his mouth, his throat going dry. How had this happened? Sure, he wouldn't mind having kids, and if he was going to have a family than Jinora was the only one he wanted it with but...not now. Not so soon. He...he needed more time. To pull himself together and stitch up the broken parts of himself. In another five years, maybe. Not now. A lump got lodged in his throat and he struggled to swallow._

 _Compass, Chapter Eleven: The Baby_

The night after he and Jinora receive the news that they're going to be parents, Kai can't sleep.

How can he, after all, when his world has just shattered again? He's going to be a father, and he has no idea how that works. Jinora probably knows more about this than he does—she's had experience with children but the only young children Kai's ever interacted with are Momo and Kida, neither of whom qualify as babies.

He's killed before. He had decapitated the former captain of the ship. He had witnessed Yung take a knife to the gut and nearly die in his arms. He'd watched Jinora nearly die three times within the last six months. But this—he's going to be a father, and it terrifies him. He has no experience and his own father…

No, he's not going to think of his father now.

He doesn't want to screw up his baby the way his father screwed him up. What if…what if, Raava forbid, one day his temper escalates and he accidentally harms Jinora or the baby? What if the baby grows up to hate him? What if, even worse, what if Jinora dies in childbirth and he loses her? There are so many things that could go wrong that he's not even sure what to worry about first.

But then his mind goes to Yung. Yung, who had also become a father unexpectedly. Yung, who'd raised him, who'd never looked down on him for his past, who loves him unconditionally. Yung, who'd been the reason that he and Jinora had gotten together in the first place. Yung, who'd childproofed the ship for him, who'd saved him in Paradise, who'd jumped overboard to save Kai from drowning and then taught him to swim, who'd stayed up all night waiting for Kai to come back from his first date, who'd taken care of Kai during his first hangover. Yung, the closest thing to a father that he has.

Kai may not be ready to be a parent yet, but at least he'll have a good role model for when the time comes.


End file.
